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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

6/24.

It's already mid-March, and I'm three months into my goal of memorizing two verses each month. So it seemed like a good time to check in, mostly with myself but maybe for some accountability with you, too. {If you're wondering what I'm talking about, read about my goal to dig deeper into the Bible this year here}.

I've found the process of choosing my verses is largely impacted by where I am in my Bible reading plan {I'm doing this one} and what's happening in my life right at that moment. I write my verses down in my little spiral, but also try to write them in my notebook and my prayer journal. It's that practices that really helps me tie the verses in with what I'm praying about each day and month. I think it makes me notice things between the two that I maybe wouldn't otherwise.

So, let's check in. I'm finding that this practices of memorizing scripture regularly is good for me. For my heart, my attitude, my prayer life, and my relationships. Since I'm picking a new verse every two-ish weeks and always saying my past ones so I don't forget them, scripture is always top of mind for me these days. Most every day I think on them. It's impossible for it to not have a impact on me.

After reading through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Job, James, and now Matthew- I found myself writing down and praying some big prayers when filling out my March prayer journal. You know, the kind of prayers that seem impossible and you try to stay away from because they're just, well, really unlikely? Yeah, those kind. Hoping and and trusting in who God says he is and what he says he can and will do are things I've been thinking a lot about lately. So, that's what I'm doing.

It all kind of started when Justin and were in the car a few weeks ago, talking about something to do with some of the girlfriends I have. He looked at me and said, "I thinks its pretty awesome how you prayed to have close friends for so long, and now you do." He was right. I remember, specifically, in my last year of grad school, praying very boldly for close girlfriends in my area. Friends to do life with. It seemed like a pretty big, impossible prayer at the time. Maybe that sounds silly, but it's the truth. Christian community has always been hard for me to find, no matter how hard I've worked to do so. Anyways, that prayer never stopped but became a little less urgent over time. And now, 3 years later, I can see how sweetly God has answered it. I prayed specifically for things like women who share my love of cooking, in the same season of life, who lived really close by, and who loved things like going for walks and coffee dates. And you know, that's exactly what happened. We all get together once a month to cook together. 4 of us had babies within one year, they all live 20 minutes or less from my house, and we've already taken walks and grabbed coffee together. It doesn't always happen like that, but in this case, God heard my prayer and truly answered it.

All that to say, being reminded of that and reading about how big God is through the Old and New Testaments, I'm encouraged to pray big prayers again. To step away from my very safe ones that I always tend towards. And then I read Psalm 33 over the weekend and had to catch my breath.

Can you even picture that? A God so big, he has jars that can hold the seas! He is a big God! The side text in my bible says, "If he can speak the whole cosmos into existence with a breath, then surely he is creative and powerful enough to be the Lord of everything that concerns us." And if that's true, than he cares about our hearts and our lives. And he hears our prayers. And he'll answer them {though not always in the very way we want}.

So I guess that's my update. I'm digging deeper into scripture. It's impacting how I pray and relate to people and see how my life is happening around me. And if this is only 3 months and 6 verses in, I can't imagine what sort of update I'll have by December.

Join me in praying big prayers? I'd LOVE to hear how you're digging into scripture these days or ways I can pray big things with you!

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Welcome to my little corner of the interwebs! I started this blog a long time ago as an online journal, but its slowly become a fun place to share recipes and DIYs and heart things. I'm glad you're here!